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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Isaiah LIII].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>I S A I A H.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. LIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The two great things which the Spirit of Christ in the Old-Testament
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prophets testified beforehand were the sufferings of Christ and the
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glory that should follow,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+1:11">1 Pet. i. 11</A>.
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And that which Christ himself, when he expounded Moses and all the
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prophets, showed to be the drift and scope of them all was that Christ
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ought to suffer and then to enter into his glory,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+24:26,27">Luke xxiv. 26, 27</A>.
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But nowhere in all the Old-Testament are these two so plainly and fully
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prophesied of as here in this chapter, out of which divers passages are
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quoted with application to Christ in the New-Testament. This chapter is
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so replenished with the unsearchable riches of Christ that it may be
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called rather the gospel of the evangelist Isaiah than the prophecy of
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the prophet Isaiah. We may observe here,
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I. The reproach of Christ's sufferings--the meanness of his appearance,
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the greatness of his grief, and the prejudices which many conceived in
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consequences against his doctrine,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
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II. The rolling away of this reproach, and the stamping of immortal
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honour upon his sufferings, notwithstanding the disgrace and ignominy
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of them, by four considerations:--
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1. That therein he did his Father's will,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:4,6,10">ver. 4, 6, 10</A>.
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2. That thereby he made atonement for the sin of man
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:4-6,8,11,12">ver. 4-6, 8, 11, 12</A>),
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for it was not for any sin of his own that he suffered,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:9">ver. 9</A>.
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3. That he bore his sufferings with an invincible and exemplary,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:7">ver. 7</A>.
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4. That he should prosper in his undertaking, and his sufferings
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should end in his immortal honour,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:10-12">ver. 10-12</A>.
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By mixing faith with the prophecy of this chapter we may improve our
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acquaintance with Jesus Christ and him crucified, with Jesus Christ and
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him glorified, dying for our sins and rising again for our
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justification.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Isa53_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa53_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa53_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Humiliation of the Messiah.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 706.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> revealed?
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2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a
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root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and
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when we shall see him, <I>there is</I> no beauty that we should desire
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him.
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3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and
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acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were <I>our</I> faces from
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him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The prophet, in the close of the former chapter, had foreseen and
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foretold the kind reception which the gospel of Christ should find
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among the Gentiles, that nations and their kings should bid it welcome,
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that those who had not seen him should believe in him; and though they
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had not any prophecies among them of gospel grace, which might raise
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their expectations, and dispose them to entertain it, yet upon the
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first notice of it they should give it its due weight and
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consideration. Now here he foretels, with wonder, the unbelief of the
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Jews, notwithstanding the previous notices they had of the coming of
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the Messiah in the Old Testament and the opportunity they had of being
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personally acquainted with him. Observe here,</P>
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<P>
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I. The contempt they put upon the gospel of Christ,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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The unbelief of the Jews in our Saviour's time is expressly said to be
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the fulfilling of this word,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+12:38">John xii. 38</A>.
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And it is applied likewise to the little success which the apostles'
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preaching met with among Jews and Gentiles,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+10:16">Rom. x. 16</A>.
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Note,
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1. Of the many that hear the report of the gospel there are few, very
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few, that believe it. It is reported openly and publicly, not whispered
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in a corner, or confined to the schools, but proclaimed to all; and it
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is so faithful a saying, and so well worthy of all acceptation, that
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one would think it should be universally received and believed. But it
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is quite otherwise; few believed the prophets who spoke before of
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Christ; when he came himself none of the rulers nor of the Pharisees
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followed him, and but here and there one of the common people; and,
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when the apostles carried this report all the world over, some in every
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place believed, but comparatively very few. To this day, of the many
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that profess to believe this report, there are few that cordially
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embrace it and submit to the power of it.
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2. <I>Therefore</I> people believe not the report of the gospel,
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because <I>the arm of the Lord is not revealed</I> to them; they do not
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discern, nor will be brought to acknowledge, that divine power which
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goes along with the word. The <I>arm of the Lord is made bare</I> (as
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was said,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+52:10"><I>ch.</I> lii. 10</A>)
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in the miracles that were wrought to confirm Christ's doctrine, in the
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wonderful success of it, and its energy upon the conscience; though it
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is a still voice, it is a strong one; but they do not perceive this,
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nor do they experience in themselves that working of the Spirit which
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makes the word effectual. They believe not the gospel because, by
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rebelling against the light they had, they had forfeited the grace of
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God, which therefore he justly denied them and withheld from them, and
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for want of that they believed not.
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3. This is a thing we ought to be much affected with; it is to be
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wondered at, and greatly lamented, and ministers may go to God and
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complain of it to him, as the prophet here. What a pity is it that
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such rich grace should be received in vain, that precious souls should
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perish at the pool's side, because they will not step in and be
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healed!</P>
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<P>
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II. The contempt they put upon the person of Christ because of the
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meanness of his appearance,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:2,3"><I>v.</I> 2, 3</A>.
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This seems to come in as a reason why they rejected his doctrine,
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because they were prejudiced against his person. When he was on earth
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many that heard him preach, and could not but approve of what they
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heard, would not give it any regard or entertainment, because it came
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from one that made so small a figure and had no external advantages to
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recommend him. Observe here,</P>
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<P>
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1. The low condition he submitted to, and how he abased and emptied
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himself. The entry he made into the world, and the character he wore in
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it, were no way agreeable to the ideas which the Jews had formed of the
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Messiah and their expectations concerning him, but quite the reverse.
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(1.) It was expected that his extraction would be very great and noble.
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He was to be the Son of David, of a family that had <I>a name like to
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the names of the great men that were in the earth,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+7:9">2 Sam. vii. 9</A>.
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But he sprang out of this royal and illustrious family when it was
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reduced and sunk, and Joseph, that son of David, who was his supposed
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father, was but a poor carpenter, perhaps a ship-carpenter, for most of
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his relations were fishermen. This is here meant by his being <I>a root
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out of a dry ground,</I> his being born of a mean and despicable
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family, in the north, in Galilee, of a family out of which, like a dry
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and desert ground, nothing green, nothing great, was expected, in a
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country of such small repute that it was thought no good thing could
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come out of it. His mother, being a virgin, was as dry ground, yet from
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her <I>he</I> sprang who is not only fruit, but root. The seed on the
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stony ground had no root; but, though Christ grew out of a dry ground,
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he is both <I>the root and the offspring of David,</I> the root of the
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good olive.
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(2.) It was expected that he should make a public entry, and come in
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pomp and with observation; but, instead of that, he grew up before God,
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not before men. God had his eye upon him, but men regarded him not:
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<I>He grew up as a tender plant,</I> silently and insensibly, and
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without any noise, as the corn, that tender plant, grows up, <I>we know
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not how,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+4:27">Mark iv. 27</A>.
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Christ rose as a tender plant, which, one would have thought, might
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easily be crushed, or might be nipped in one frosty night. The gospel
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of Christ, in its beginning, was as a grain of mustard-seed, so
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inconsiderable did it seem,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:31,32">Matt. xiii. 31, 32</A>.
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(3.) It was expected that he should have some uncommon beauty in his
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face and person, which should charm the eye, attract the heart, and
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raise the expectations of all that saw him. But there was nothing of
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this kind in him; not that he was in the least deformed or misshapen,
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but <I>he had no form nor comeliness,</I> nothing extraordinary, which
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one might have thought to meet with in the countenance of an incarnate
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deity. Those who saw him could not see that there was any beauty in him
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<I>that they should desire him, nothing in him more than in another
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beloved,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+5:9">Cant. v. 9</A>.
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Moses, when he was born, was exceedingly fair, to such a degree that it
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was looked upon as a happy presage,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+7:20,Heb+11:23">Acts vii. 20; Heb. xi. 23</A>.
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David, when he was anointed, was <I>of a beautiful countenance, and
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goodly to look to,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+16:12">1 Sam. xvi. 12</A>.
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But our Lord Jesus had nothing of that to recommend him. Or it may
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refer not so much to his person as to the manner of his appearing in
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the world, which had nothing in it of sensible glory. His gospel is
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preached, <I>not with the enticing words of man's wisdom,</I> but with
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all plainness, agreeable to the subject.
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(4.) It was expected that he should live a pleasant life, and have a
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full enjoyment of all the delights of the sons and daughters of men,
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which would have invited all sorts to him; but, on the contrary, he was
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<I>a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.</I> It was not only his
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last scene that was tragical, but his whole life was so, not only mean,
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but miserable,</P>
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<CENTER>
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<TABLE BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD>-------- but one continued chain
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<BR>Of labour, sorrow, and consuming pain.
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</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD ALIGN=RIGHT>S<FONT SIZE=-1>IR</FONT> R.
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B<FONT SIZE=-1>LACKMORE</FONT>.</TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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Thus, being <I>made sin for us,</I> he underwent the sentence sin had
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subjected us to, that we should <I>eat in sorrow all the days of our
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life</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+3:17">Gen. iii. 17</A>),
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and thereby relaxed much of the rigour and extremity of the sentence as
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to us. His condition was, upon many accounts, sorrowful. He was
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unsettled, had not where to lay his head, lived upon alms, was opposed
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and menaced, and <I>endured the contradiction of sinners against
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himself.</I> His spirit was tender, and he admitted the impressions of
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sorrow. We never read that he laughed, but often that he wept.
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Lentulus, in his epistle to the Roman senate concerning Jesus, says,
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"<I>he was never seen to laugh;</I>" and so worn and macerated was he
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with continual grief that when he was but a little above thirty years
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of age he was taken to be nearly fifty,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+8:57">John viii. 57</A>.
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Grief was his intimate acquaintance; for he acquainted himself with the
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grievances of others, and sympathized with them, and he never set his
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own at a distance; for in his transfiguration he talked of his own
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decease, and in his triumph he wept over Jerusalem. Let us look unto
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him and mourn.</P>
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<P>
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2. The low opinion that men had of him, upon this account. Being
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generally apt to judge of persons and things by the sight of the eye,
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and according to outward appearance, they saw no beauty in him that
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they should desire him. There was a great deal of true beauty in him,
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the beauty of holiness and the beauty of goodness, enough to render him
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<I>the desire of all nations;</I> but the far greater part of those
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among whom he lived, and conversed, saw none of this beauty, for it was
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spiritually discerned. Carnal hearts see no excellency in the Lord
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Jesus, nothing that should induce them to desire an acquaintance with
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him or interest in him. Nay, he is not only not desired, but <I>he is
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despised and rejected,</I> abandoned and abhorred, a reproach of men,
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an abject, one that men were shy of keeping company with and had not
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any esteem for, a worm and no man. He was despised as a mean man,
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rejected as a bad man. He was the stone which the builders refused;
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they would not have him to reign over them. Men, who should have had so
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much reason as to understand things better, so much tenderness as not
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to trample upon a man in misery--men whom he came to seek and save
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rejected him: "<I>We hid as it were our faces from him,</I> looked
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another way, and his sufferings were as nothing to us; though <I>never
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sorrow was like unto his sorrow.</I> Nay, we not only behaved as having
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no concern for him, but as loathing him, and having him in
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detestation." It may be read, <I>He hid as it were his face from
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us,</I> concealed the glory of his majesty, and drew a veil over it,
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and therefore <I>he was despised and we esteemed him not,</I> because
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we could not see through that veil. Christ having undertaken to make
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satisfaction to the justice of God for the injury man had done him in
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his honour by sin (and God cannot be injured except in his honour), he
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did it not only by divesting himself of the glories due to an incarnate
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deity, but by submitting himself to the disgraces due to the worst of
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men and malefactors; and thus by vilifying himself he glorified his
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Father: but this is a good reason why we should esteem him highly, and
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study to do him honour; let <I>him</I> be received by us whom men
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rejected.</P>
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<A NAME="Isa53_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa53_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa53_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa53_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa53_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa53_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Humiliation of the Messiah.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 706.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet
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we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
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5 But he <I>was</I> wounded for our transgressions, <I>he was</I> bruised
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for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace <I>was</I> upon him;
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and with his stripes we are healed.
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6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one
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to his own way; and the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath laid on him the iniquity of us
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all.
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7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his
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mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
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before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
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8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall
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declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the
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living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
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9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in
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his death; because he had done no violence, neither <I>was any</I>
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deceit in his mouth.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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In these verses we have,</P>
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<P>
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I. A further account of the sufferings of Christ. Much was said before,
|
|
but more is said here, of the very low condition to which he abased and
|
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humbled himself, to which he became obedient even to the death of the
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cross.
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1. He had griefs and sorrows; being acquainted with them, he kept up
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the acquaintance, and did not grow shy, no, not of such melancholy
|
|
acquaintance. Were griefs and sorrows allotted him? He bore them, and
|
|
blamed not his lot; he carried them, and did neither shrink from them,
|
|
nor sink under them. The load was heavy and the way long, and yet he
|
|
did not tire, but persevered to the end, till he said, <I>It is
|
|
finished.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. He had blows and bruises; he was <I>stricken, smitten, and
|
|
afflicted.</I> His sorrows bruised him; he felt pain and smart from
|
|
them; they touched him in the most tender part, especially when God was
|
|
dishonoured, and when he forsook him upon the cross. All along he was
|
|
smitten with the tongue, when he was cavilled at and contradicted, put
|
|
under the worst of characters, and had all manner of evil said against
|
|
him. At last he was smitten with the hand, with blow after blow.
|
|
|
|
3. He had wounds and stripes. He was scourged, not under the merciful
|
|
restriction of the Jewish law, which allowed not above forty stripes to
|
|
be given to the worst of male factors, but according to the usage of
|
|
the Romans. And his scourging, doubtless, was the more severe because
|
|
Pilate intended it as an equivalent for his crucifixion, and yet it
|
|
proved a preface to it. He was wounded in his hands, and feet, and
|
|
side. Though it was so ordered that not a bone of him should be broken,
|
|
yet he had scarcely in any part a whole skin (how fond soever we are to
|
|
sleep in one, even when we are called out to suffer for him), but from
|
|
the crown of his head, which was crowned with thorns, to the soles of
|
|
his feet, which were nailed to the cross, nothing appeared but wounds
|
|
and bruises.
|
|
|
|
4. He was wronged and abused
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He was oppressed,</I> injuriously treated and hardly dealt with.
|
|
That was laid to his charge which he was perfectly innocent of, that
|
|
laid upon him which he did not deserve, and in both he was oppressed
|
|
and injured. <I>He was afflicted</I> both in mind and body; being
|
|
oppressed, he laid it to heart, and, though, he was patient, was not
|
|
stupid under it, but mingled his tears with those of the oppressed,
|
|
that have no comforter, because <I>on the side of the oppressors there
|
|
is power,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:1">Eccl. iv. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
Oppression is a sore affliction; it has made many a wise man mad
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+7:7">Eccl. vii. 7</A>);
|
|
|
|
but our Lord Jesus, though, when he was oppressed, he was afflicted,
|
|
kept possession of his own soul.
|
|
|
|
5. He was judged and imprisoned, as is implied in his being <I>taken
|
|
from prison and judgment,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
God having made him sin for us, he was proceeded against as a
|
|
malefactor; he was apprehended and taken into custody, and made a
|
|
prisoner; he was judge, accused, tried, and condemned, according to the
|
|
usual forms of law: God filed a process against him, judged him in
|
|
pursuance of that process, and confined him in the prison of the grave,
|
|
at the door of which a stone was rolled and sealed.
|
|
|
|
6. He was <I>cut off</I> by an untimely death <I>from the land of the
|
|
living,</I> though he lived a most useful life, did so many good works,
|
|
and they were all such that one would be apt to think it was for some
|
|
of them that they stoned him. He was stricken to death, to the grave
|
|
which he made <I>with the wicked</I> (for he was crucified between two
|
|
thieves, as if he had been the worst of the three) and yet <I>with the
|
|
rich,</I> for he was buried in a sepulchre that belonged to Joseph, an
|
|
honourable counsellor. Though he died with the wicked, and according to
|
|
the common course of dealing with criminals should have been buried
|
|
with them in the place where he was crucified, yet God here foretold,
|
|
and Providence so ordered it, that he should make his grave with the
|
|
innocent, with the rich, as a mark of distinction put between him and
|
|
those that really deserved to die, even in his sufferings.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. A full account of the meaning of his sufferings. It was a very
|
|
great mystery that so excellent a person should suffer such hard
|
|
things; and it is natural to ask with amazement, "How came it about?
|
|
What evil had he done?" His enemies indeed looked upon him as suffering
|
|
justly for his crimes; and, though they could lay nothing to his
|
|
charge, they <I>esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and
|
|
afflicted,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
Because they hated him, and persecuted him, they thought that God did,
|
|
that he was his enemy and fought against him; and therefore they were
|
|
the more enraged against him, saying, <I>God has forsaken him;
|
|
persecute and take him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+71:11">Ps. lxxi. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those that are justly smitten are smitten of God, for by him princes
|
|
decree justice; and so they looked upon him to be smitten, justly put
|
|
to death as a blasphemer, a deceiver, and an enemy to Cæsar.
|
|
Those that saw him hanging on the cross enquired not into the merits of
|
|
his cause, but took it for granted that he was guilty of every thing
|
|
laid to his charge and that therefore vengeance suffered him not to
|
|
live. Thus Job's friends esteemed him smitten of God, because there was
|
|
something uncommon in his sufferings. It is true he was <I>smitten of
|
|
God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>
|
|
|
|
(or, as some read it, <I>he was God's smitten and afflicted,</I> the
|
|
Son of God, though smitten and afflicted), but not in the sense in
|
|
which they meant it; for, though he suffered all these things,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He never did any thing in the least to deserve this hard usage.
|
|
Whereas he was charged with perverting the nation, and sowing sedition,
|
|
it was utterly false; he had <I>done no violence,</I> but went about
|
|
doing good. And, whereas he was called <I>that deceiver,</I> he never
|
|
deserved that character; for <I>there was no deceit in his mouth</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
to which the apostle refers,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+2:22">1 Pet. ii. 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.</I> He never
|
|
offended either in word or deed, nor could any of his enemies take up
|
|
that challenge of his, <I>Which of you convinceth me of sin?</I> The
|
|
judge that condemned owned he found no fault in him, and the centurion
|
|
that executed him professed that certainly he was a righteous man.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He conducted himself under his sufferings so as to make it appear
|
|
that he did not suffer as an evil-doer; for, though he was <I>oppressed
|
|
and afflicted,</I> yet he <I>opened not his mouth</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
no, not so much as to plead his own innocency, but freely offered
|
|
himself to suffer and die for us, and objected nothing against it. This
|
|
takes away the scandal of the cross, that he voluntarily submitted to
|
|
it, for great and holy ends. By his wisdom he could have evaded the
|
|
sentence, and by his power have resisted the execution; but <I>thus it
|
|
was written, and thus it behoved him to suffer. This commandment he
|
|
received from his Father,</I> and therefore he was led <I>as a lamb to
|
|
the slaughter,</I> without any difficulty or reluctance (he is the
|
|
<I>Lamb of God</I>); and as <I>a sheep is dumb before the shearers,</I>
|
|
nay, before the butchers, so he <I>opened not his mouth,</I> which
|
|
denotes not only his exemplary patience under affliction
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:9">Ps. xxxix. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
and his meekness under reproach
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+38:13">Ps. xxxviii. 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
but his cheerful compliance with his Father's will. <I>Not my will, but
|
|
thine be done. Lo, I come.</I> By this will we are sanctified, his
|
|
making his own soul, his own life, an offering for our sin.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. It was for our good, and in our stead, that Jesus Christ suffered.
|
|
This is asserted here plainly and fully, and in a very great variety of
|
|
emphatical expressions.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) It is certain that we are all guilty before God. We have all
|
|
sinned, and have come short of the glory of God
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>All we like sheep have gone astray,</I> one as well as another. The
|
|
whole race of mankind lies under the stain of original corruption, and
|
|
every particular person stands charged with many actual transgressions.
|
|
We have all gone astray from God our rightful owner, alienated
|
|
ourselves from him, from the ends he designed us to move towards and
|
|
the way he appointed us to move in. We have gone astray like sheep,
|
|
which are apt to wander, and are unapt, when they have gone astray, to
|
|
find the way home again. That is our true character; we are bent to
|
|
backslide from God, but altogether unable of ourselves to return to
|
|
him. This is mentioned not only as our infelicity (that we go astray
|
|
from the green pastures and expose ourselves to the beasts of prey),
|
|
but as our iniquity. We affront God in going astray from him, for we
|
|
turn aside every one to his own way, and thereby set up ourselves, and
|
|
our own will, in competition with God and his will, which is the
|
|
malignity of sin. Instead of walking obediently in God's way, we have
|
|
turned wilfully and stubbornly to our own way, the way of our own
|
|
heart, the way that our own corrupt appetites and passions lead us to.
|
|
We have set up for ourselves, to be our own masters, our own carvers,
|
|
to do what we will and have what we will. Some think it intimates our
|
|
own evil way, in distinction from the evil way of others. Sinners have
|
|
their own iniquity, their beloved sin, which does most easily beset
|
|
them, their own evil way, that they are particularly fond of and bless
|
|
themselves in.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Our sins are our sorrows and our griefs
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
or, as it may be read, <I>our sicknesses and our wounds:</I> the LXX.
|
|
reads it, <I>our sins;</I> and so the apostle,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+2:24">1 Pet. ii. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
Our original corruptions are the sickness and disease of the soul, an
|
|
habitual indisposition; our actual transgressions are the wounds of the
|
|
soul, which put conscience to pain, if it be not seared and senseless.
|
|
Or our sins are called our <I>griefs and sorrows</I> because all our
|
|
griefs and sorrows are owing to our sins and our sins deserve all our
|
|
griefs and sorrows, even those that are most extreme and
|
|
everlasting.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) Our Lord Jesus was appointed and did undertake to make
|
|
satisfaction for our sins and so to save us from the penal consequences
|
|
of them.
|
|
|
|
[1.] He was appointed to do it, by the will of his Father; for <I>the
|
|
Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.</I> God chose him to be
|
|
the Saviour of poor sinners and would have him to save them in this
|
|
way, by bearing their sins and the punishment of them; not the
|
|
<I>idem--the same</I> that we should have suffered, but the
|
|
<I>tantundem</I>--that which was more than equivalent for the
|
|
maintaining of the honour of the holiness and justice of God in the
|
|
government of the world. Observe here, <I>First,</I> In what way we are
|
|
saved from the ruin to which by sin we had become liable--by laying our
|
|
sins on Christ, as the sins of the offerer were laid upon the sacrifice
|
|
and those of all Israel upon the head of the scape-goat. Our sins were
|
|
<I>made to meet upon him</I> (so the margin reads it); the sins of all
|
|
that he was to save, from every place and every age, met upon him, and
|
|
he was met with for them. They were made to fall upon him (so some read
|
|
it) as those rushed upon him that came with swords and staves to take
|
|
him. The laying of our sins upon Christ implies the taking of them off
|
|
from us; we shall not fall under the curse of the law if we submit to
|
|
the grace of the gospel. They were laid upon Christ when he was <I>made
|
|
sin</I> (that is, a sin-offering) <I>for us,</I> and redeemed us from
|
|
the curse of the law by <I>being made a curse for us;</I> thus he put
|
|
himself into a capacity to make those easy that come to him heavily
|
|
laden under the burden of sin. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:6-12">Ps. xl. 6-12</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> By whom this was appointed. It was the Lord that laid
|
|
our iniquities on Christ; he contrived this way of reconciliation and
|
|
salvation, and he accepted of the vicarious satisfaction Christ was to
|
|
make. Christ was delivered to death <I>by the determinate counsel and
|
|
foreknowledge of God.</I> None but God had power to lay our sins upon
|
|
Christ, both because the sin was committed against him and to him the
|
|
satisfaction was to be made, and because Christ, on whom the iniquity
|
|
was to be laid, was his own Son, the Son of his love, and his holy
|
|
child Jesus, who himself knew no sin. <I>Thirdly,</I> For whom this
|
|
atonement was to be made. It was <I>the iniquity of us all</I> that
|
|
was laid on Christ; for in Christ there is a sufficiency of merit for
|
|
the salvation of all, and a serious offer made of that salvation to
|
|
all, which excludes none that do not exclude themselves. It intimates
|
|
that this is the one only way of salvation. All that are justified are
|
|
justified by having their sins laid on Jesus Christ, and, though they
|
|
were ever so many, he is able to bear the weight of them all.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He undertook to do it. God laid upon him our iniquity; but did he
|
|
consent to it? Yes, he did; for some think that the true reading of the
|
|
next words
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>)
|
|
|
|
is, <I>It was exacted, and he answered;</I> divine justice demanded
|
|
satisfaction for our sins, and he engaged to make the satisfaction. He
|
|
became our surety, not as originally bound with us, but as bail to the
|
|
action: "Upon me be the curse, my Father." And therefore, when he was
|
|
seized, he stipulated with those into whose hands he surrendered
|
|
himself that that should be his disciples' discharge: <I>If you seek
|
|
me, let these go their way,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+18:8">John xviii. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
By his own voluntary undertaking he made himself responsible for our
|
|
debt, and it is well for us that he was responsible. Thus <I>he
|
|
restored that which he took not away.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(4.) Having undertaken our debt, he underwent the penalty. Solomon
|
|
says: <I>He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it.</I>
|
|
Christ, being surety for us, did smart for it.
|
|
|
|
[1.] <I>He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
He not only submitted to the common infirmities of human nature, and
|
|
the common calamities of human life, which sin had introduced, but he
|
|
underwent the extremities of grief, when he said, <I>My soul is
|
|
exceedingly sorrowful.</I> He made the sorrows of this present time
|
|
heavy to himself, that he might make them light and easy for us. Sin is
|
|
the wormwood and the fall in the affliction and the misery. Christ bore
|
|
our sins, and so <I>bore our griefs,</I> bore them off us, that we
|
|
should never be pressed above measure. This is quoted
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+8:17">Matt. viii. 17</A>)
|
|
|
|
with application to the compassion Christ had for the sick that came to
|
|
him to be cured and the power he put forth to cure them.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He did this by suffering for our sins
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He was wounded for our transgressions,</I> to make atonement for
|
|
them and to purchase for us the pardon of them. Our sins were the
|
|
thorns in his head, the nails in his hands and feet, the spear in his
|
|
side. Wounds and bruises were the consequences of sin, what we deserved
|
|
and what we had brought upon ourselves,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:6"><I>ch.</I> i. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
That these wounds and bruises, though they are painful, may not be
|
|
mortal, <I>Christ was wounded for our transgressions,</I> was tormented
|
|
or pained (the word is used for the pains of a woman in travail) for
|
|
our revolts and rebellions. <I>He was bruised,</I> or crushed, <I>for
|
|
our iniquities;</I> they were the procuring cause of his death. To the
|
|
same purport is
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>for the transgression of my people was he smitten, the stroke</I>
|
|
was <I>upon him</I> that should have been upon us; and so some read it,
|
|
<I>He was cut off for the iniquity of my people, unto whom the stroke
|
|
belonged,</I> or <I>was due. He was delivered</I> to death <I>for our
|
|
offences,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:25">Rom. iv. 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
Hence it is said to be <I>according to the scriptures,</I> according to
|
|
this scripture, that Christ <I>died for our sins,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:3">1 Cor. xv. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
Some read this, <I>by the transgressions of my people;</I> that is, by
|
|
the wicked hands of the Jews, who were, in profession, God's people, he
|
|
was stricken, was crucified and slain,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+2:23">Acts ii. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
But, doubtless, we are to take it in the former sense, which is
|
|
abundantly confirmed by the angel's prediction of the Messiah's
|
|
undertaking, solemnly delivered to Daniel, that he shall <I>finish
|
|
transgression, make an end of sin, and make reconciliation for
|
|
iniquity,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+9:24">Dan. ix. 24</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(5.) The consequence of this to us is our peace and healing,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
[1.] Hereby we have peace: <I>The chastisement of our peace was upon
|
|
him;</I> he, by submitting to these chastisements, slew the enmity, and
|
|
settled an amity, between God and man; he <I>made peace by the blood of
|
|
his cross.</I> Whereas by sin we had become odious to God's holiness
|
|
and obnoxious to his justice, through Christ God is reconciled to us,
|
|
and not only forgives our sins and saves us from ruin, but takes us
|
|
into friendship and fellowship with himself, and thereby <I>peace</I>
|
|
(that is, all good) <I>comes unto us,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+1:20">Col. i. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>He is our peace,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:14">Eph. ii. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Christ was in pain that we might be at ease; he gave satisfaction to
|
|
the justice of God that we might have satisfaction in our own minds,
|
|
might be of good cheer, knowing that through him our sins are forgiven
|
|
us.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Hereby we have healing; for <I>by his stripes we are healed.</I>
|
|
Sin is not only a crime, for which we were condemned to die and which
|
|
Christ purchased for us the pardon of, but it is a disease, which tends
|
|
directly to the death of our souls and which Christ provided for the
|
|
cure of. By his stripes (that is, the sufferings he underwent) he
|
|
purchased for us the Spirit and grace of God to mortify our
|
|
corruptions, which are the distempers of our souls, and to put our
|
|
souls in a good state of health, that they may be fit to serve God and
|
|
prepared to enjoy him. And by the doctrine of Christ's cross, and the
|
|
powerful arguments it furnishes us with against sin, the dominion of
|
|
sin is broken in us and we are fortified against that which feeds the
|
|
disease.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(6.) The consequence of this to Christ was his resurrection and
|
|
advancement to perpetual honour. This makes the offence of the cross
|
|
perfectly to cease; he yielded himself to die as a sacrifice, as a
|
|
lamb, and, to make it evident that the sacrifice he offered of himself
|
|
was accepted, we are told here,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>,
|
|
|
|
[1.] That he was discharged: <I>He was taken from prison and from
|
|
judgment;</I> whereas he was imprisoned in the grave under a judicial
|
|
process, lay there under an arrest for our debt, and judgment seemed to
|
|
be given against him, he was by an express order from heaven taken out
|
|
of the prison of the grave, an angel was sent on purpose to roll away
|
|
the stone and set him at liberty, by which the judgment given against
|
|
him was reversed and taken off; this redounds not only to his honour,
|
|
but to our comfort; for, being <I>delivered for our offences,</I> he
|
|
was <I>raised again for our justification.</I> That discharge of the
|
|
bail amounted to a release of the debt.
|
|
|
|
[2.] That he was preferred: <I>Who shall declare his generation?</I>
|
|
his <I>age,</I> or <I>continuance</I> (so the word signifies), the time
|
|
of his life? He rose <I>to die no more; death had no more dominion over
|
|
him.</I> He that <I>was dead is alive,</I> and <I>lives for
|
|
evermore;</I> and who can describe that immortality to which he rose,
|
|
or number the years and ages of it? And he is advanced to this eternal
|
|
life because for the transgression of his people he became obedient to
|
|
death. We may take it as denoting the time of his usefulness, as David
|
|
is said to <I>serve his generation,</I> and so to answer the end of
|
|
living. Who can declare how great a blessing Christ by his death and
|
|
resurrection will be to the world? Some by <I>his generation</I>
|
|
understand his spiritual seed: Who can count the vast numbers of
|
|
converts that shall by the gospel be begotten to him, like the dew of
|
|
the morning?</P>
|
|
|
|
<CENTER>
|
|
<TABLE BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD>When thus exalted he shall live to see
|
|
<BR>A numberless believing progeny
|
|
<BR>Of his adopted sons; the godlike race
|
|
<BR>Exceed the stars that heav'n's high arches grace.
|
|
</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD ALIGN=RIGHT>S<FONT SIZE=-1>IR</FONT> R.
|
|
B<FONT SIZE=-1>LACKMORE</FONT>.</TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
</CENTER>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Of this generation of his let us pray, as Moses did for Israel, <I>The
|
|
Lord God of our fathers make them a thousand times so many more as they
|
|
are, and bless them as he has promised them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:11">Deut. i. 11</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa53_10"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa53_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa53_12"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Exaltation of the Messiah; The Triumph of the Messiah.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 706.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>10 Yet it pleased the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> to bruise him; he hath put <I>him</I> to
|
|
grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he
|
|
shall see <I>his</I> seed, he shall prolong <I>his</I> days, and the
|
|
pleasure of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall prosper in his hand.
|
|
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, <I>and</I> shall be
|
|
satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
|
|
many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
|
|
12 Therefore will I divide him <I>a portion</I> with the great, and
|
|
he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured
|
|
out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the
|
|
transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession
|
|
for the transgressors.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In the
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:19">foregoing verses</A>
|
|
|
|
the prophet had testified very particularly of the sufferings of
|
|
Christ, yet mixing some hints of the happy issue of them; here he again
|
|
mentions his sufferings, but largely foretels the glory that should
|
|
follow. We may observe, in these verses,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The services and sufferings of Christ's state of humiliation. Come,
|
|
and see how he loved us, see what he did for us.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He submitted to the frowns of Heaven
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him, to put him to</I> pain, or
|
|
torment, or <I>grief.</I> The scripture nowhere says that Christ is his
|
|
sufferings underwent the wrath of God; but it says here,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That the Lord bruised him, not only permitted men to bruise him,
|
|
but awakened his own sword against him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+13:7">Zech. xiii. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
They esteemed him smitten of God for some very great sin of his own
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>);
|
|
|
|
now it was true that he was smitten of God, but it was for our sin; the
|
|
Lord bruised him, for he <I>did not spare him, but delivered him up for
|
|
us all,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:32">Rom. viii. 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
He it was that put the bitter cup into his hand, and obliged him to
|
|
drink it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+18:11">John xviii. 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
having laid upon him our iniquity. He it was that made him sin and a
|
|
curse for us, and turned to ashes all his burnt-offering, in token of
|
|
the acceptance of it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+20:3">Ps. xx. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That he bruised him so as to put him to grief. Christ accommodated
|
|
himself to this dispensation, and received the impressions of grief
|
|
from his Father's delivering him up; and he was troubled to such a
|
|
degree that it put him into an agony, and he began to be amazed and
|
|
very heavy.
|
|
|
|
(3.) It pleased the Lord to do this. He determined to do it; it was the
|
|
result of an eternal counsel; and he delighted in it, as it was an
|
|
effectual method for the salvation of man and the securing and
|
|
advancing of the honour of God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He substituted himself in the room of sinners, as a sacrifice. He
|
|
<I>made his soul an offering for sin;</I> he himself explains this
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+20:28">Matt. xx. 28</A>),
|
|
|
|
that <I>he came to give his life a ransom for many.</I> When men
|
|
brought bulls and goats as sacrifices for sin they made them offerings,
|
|
for they had an interest in them, God having put them under the feet of
|
|
man. But Christ made himself an offering; it was his own act and deed.
|
|
We could not put him in our stead, but he put himself, and said,
|
|
<I>Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit,</I> in a higher sense
|
|
than David said, or could say it. "Father, <I>I commit my soul to
|
|
thee,</I> I deposit it in thy hands, as the life of a sacrifice and the
|
|
price of pardons." Thus he shall bear the iniquities of the many that
|
|
he designed to justify
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
shall take away the sin of the world by taking it upon himself,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+1:29">John i. 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
This mentioned again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He bore the sin of many,</I> who, if they had borne it themselves,
|
|
would have been sunk by it to the lowest hell. See how this dwelt upon;
|
|
for, whenever we think of the sufferings of Christ, we must see him in
|
|
them bearing our sin.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He subjected himself to that which to us is the wages of sin
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He has poured out his soul unto death,</I> poured it out as water,
|
|
so little account did he make of it, when the laying of it down was the
|
|
appointed means of our redemption and salvation. He <I>loved not his
|
|
life unto the death,</I> and his followers, the martyrs, did likewise,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+12:11">Rev. xii. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Or, rather, he poured it out as a drink-offering, to make his sacrifice
|
|
complete, poured it out as wine, that his blood might be drink indeed,
|
|
as his flesh is meat indeed to all believers. There was not only a
|
|
colliquation of his body in his sufferings
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+22:14">Ps. xxii. 14</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>I am poured out like water</I>), but a surrender of his spirit; he
|
|
poured out that, even unto death, though he is the Lord of life.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. He suffered himself to be ranked with sinners, and yet offered
|
|
himself to be an intercessor for sinners,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) It was a great aggravation of his sufferings that he was
|
|
<I>numbered with transgressors,</I> that he was not only condemned as a
|
|
malefactor, but executed in company with two notorious malefactors, and
|
|
he in the midst, as if he had been the worst of the three, in which
|
|
circumstance of his suffering, the evangelist tells us, this prophecy
|
|
was fulfilled,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+15:27,28">Mark xv. 27, 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nay, the vilest malefactor of all, Barabbas, who was a traitor, a
|
|
thief, and a murderer, was put in election with him for the favour of
|
|
the people, and carried it; for they would not have Jesus released, but
|
|
Barabbas. In his whole life he was numbered among the transgressors;
|
|
for he was called and accounted a sabbath-breaker, a drunkard, and a
|
|
friend to publicans and sinners.
|
|
|
|
(2.) It was a great commendation of his sufferings, and redounded very
|
|
much to his honour, that in his sufferings he <I>made intercession for
|
|
the transgressors,</I> for those that reviled and crucified him; for he
|
|
prayed, <I>Father, forgive them,</I> thereby showing, not only that he
|
|
forgave them, but that he was now doing that upon which their
|
|
forgiveness, and the forgiveness of all other transgressors, were to be
|
|
founded. That prayer was the language of his blood, crying, not for
|
|
vengeance, but for mercy, and therein it speaks better things than that
|
|
of Abel, even for those who with wicked hands shed it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The grace and glories of his state of exaltation; and the graces he
|
|
confers on us are not the least of the glories conferred on him. These
|
|
are secured to him by the covenant of redemption, which
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:10-12">these verses</A>
|
|
|
|
give us some idea of. He promises to make his soul an offering for sin,
|
|
consents that the Father shall deliver him up, and undertakes to bear
|
|
the sin of many, in consideration of which the Father promises to
|
|
glorify him, not only with the glory he had, as God, before the world
|
|
was
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+17:5">John xvii. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
but with the glories of the Mediator.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He shall have the glory of an everlasting Father. Under this title
|
|
he was <I>brought into the world</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+9:6"><I>ch.</I> ix. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
and he shall not fail to answer the title when he goes out of the
|
|
world. This was the promise made to Abraham (who herein was a type of
|
|
Christ), that he should be <I>the father of many nations</I> and so be
|
|
<I>the heir of the world,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:13,17">Rom. iv. 13, 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
As he was the root of the Jewish church, and the covenant was made with
|
|
him and his seed, so is Christ of the universal church and with him and
|
|
his spiritual seed is the covenant of grace made, which is grounded
|
|
upon and grafted in the covenant of redemption, which here we have some
|
|
of the glorious promises of. It is promised,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) That the Redeemer shall have a seed to serve him and to bear up
|
|
his name,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+22:30">Ps. xxii. 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
True believers are the seed of Christ; the Father gave them to him to
|
|
be so,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+17:6">John xvii. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
He died to purchase and purify them to himself, fell to the ground as a
|
|
corn of wheat, that he might <I>bring forth much fruit,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+12:24">John xii. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
The word, that incorruptible see, of which they are born again, is his
|
|
word; the Spirit, the great author of their regeneration, is his
|
|
Spirit; and it is his image that is impressed upon them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) That he shall live to see his seed. Christ's children have a
|
|
living Father, and because he lives they shall live also, for he is
|
|
their life. Though he died, he rose again, and left not his children
|
|
orphans, but took effectual care to secure to them the spirit, the
|
|
blessing, and the inheritance of sons. He shall see a great increase of
|
|
them; the word is plural, <I>He shall see his seeds,</I> multitudes of
|
|
them, so many that they cannot be numbered.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) That he shall himself continue to take care of the affairs of this
|
|
numerous family: <I>He shall prolong his days.</I> Many, when they see
|
|
their seed, their seed's seed, wish to depart in peace; but Christ will
|
|
not commit the care of his family to any other, no, he shall himself
|
|
live long, and <I>of the increase of his government and peace there
|
|
shall be no end,</I> for he ever lives. Some refer it to believers:
|
|
<I>He shall see a seed that shall prolong its days,</I> agreeing with
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:29,36">Ps. lxxxix. 29, 36</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>His seed shall endure for ever.</I> While the world stands Christ
|
|
will have a church in it, which he himself will be the life of.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(4.) That his great undertaking shall be successful and shall answer
|
|
expectation: <I>The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.</I>
|
|
God's purposes shall take effect, and not one iota or tittle of them
|
|
shall fail. Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] The work of man's redemption is in the hands of the Lord Jesus,
|
|
and it is in good hands. It is well for us that it is in his, for our
|
|
own hands are not sufficient for us, but he is able to save to the
|
|
uttermost. It is in his hands who upholds all things.
|
|
|
|
[2.] It is the good pleasure of the Lord, which denotes not only his
|
|
counsel concerning it, but his complacency in it; and <I>therefore</I>
|
|
God loved him, and was well pleased in him, because he undertook to lay
|
|
down his life for the sheep.
|
|
|
|
[3.] It has prospered hitherto, and shall prosper, whatever
|
|
obstructions or difficulties have been, or may be, in the way of it.
|
|
Whatever is undertaken according to God's pleasure shall prosper,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:10"><I>ch.</I> xlvi. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Cyrus, a type of Christ, shall perform all God's pleasure
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+44:28"><I>ch.</I> xliv. 28</A>),
|
|
|
|
and therefore, no doubt, Christ shall. Christ was so perfectly well
|
|
qualified for his undertaking, and prosecuted it with so much vigour,
|
|
and it was from first to last so well devised, that it could not fail
|
|
to prosper, to the honour of his Father and the salvation of all his
|
|
seed.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(5.) That he shall himself have abundant satisfaction in it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.</I>
|
|
He shall see it beforehand (so it may be understood); he shall with the
|
|
prospect of his sufferings have a prospect of the fruit, and he shall
|
|
be satisfied with the bargain. He shall see it when it is accomplished
|
|
in the conversion and salvation of poor sinners. Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Our Lord Jesus was in travail of soul for our redemption and
|
|
salvation, in great pain, but with longing desire to be delivered, and
|
|
all the pains and throes he underwent were in order to it and hastened
|
|
it on.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Christ does and will see the blessed fruit of the travail of his
|
|
soul in the founding and building up of his church and the eternal
|
|
salvation of all that were given him. He will not come short of his end
|
|
in any part of his work, but will himself see that he has not laboured
|
|
in vain.
|
|
|
|
[3.] The salvation of souls is a great satisfaction to the Lord Jesus.
|
|
He will reckon all his pains well bestowed, and himself abundantly
|
|
recompensed, if the many sons be by him brought through grace to glory.
|
|
Let him have this, and he has enough. God will be glorified, penitent
|
|
believers will be justified, and then Christ will be satisfied. Thus,
|
|
in conformity to Christ, it should be a satisfaction to us if we can do
|
|
any thing to serve the interests of God's kingdom in the world. Let it
|
|
always be our meat and drink, as it was Christ's, to do God's will.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
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2. He shall have the glory of bringing in an everlasting righteousness;
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for so it was foretold concerning him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+9:24">Dan. ix. 24</A>.
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And here, to the same purport, <I>By his knowledge</I> (the knowledge
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of him, and faith in him) <I>shall my righteous servant justify
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many;</I> for he shall bear the sins of many, and so lay a foundation
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for our justification from sin. Note,
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(1.) The great privilege that flows to us from the death of Christ is
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justification from sin, our being acquitted from that guilt which alone
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can ruin us, and accepted into God's favour, which alone can make us
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happy.
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(2.) Christ, who purchased our justification for us, applies it to us,
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by his intercession made for us, his gospel preached to us, and his
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Spirit witnessing in us. The Son of man had power even on earth to
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forgive sin.
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(3.) There are many whom Christ justifies, not all (multitudes perish
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in their sins), yet many, even as many as he gave his life a ransom
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for, as many as the Lord our God shall call. He shall justify not here
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and there one that is eminent and remarkable, but those of the many,
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|
the despised multitude.
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(4.) It is by faith that we are justified, by our consent to Christ and
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|
the covenant of grace; in this way we are saved, because thus God is
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most glorified, free grace most advanced, self most abased, and our
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|
happiness most effectually secured.
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(5.) Faith is the knowledge of Christ, and without knowledge there can
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|
be no true faith. Christ's way of gaining the will and affections is by
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enlightening the understanding and bringing that unfeignedly to assent
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|
to divine truths.
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|
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(6.) That knowledge of Christ, and that faith in him, by which we are
|
|
justified, have reference to him both as a servant to God and as a
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|
surety for us.
|
|
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[1.] As one that is employed for God to pursue his designs and secure
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|
and advance the interests of his glory. "He is my righteous servant,
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|
and as such justifies men." God has authorized and appointed him to do
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|
it; it is according to God's will and for his honour that he does it.
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|
He is himself righteous, and of his righteousness have all we received.
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He that is himself righteous (for he could not have made atonement for
|
|
our sin if he had had any sin of his own to answer for) is <I>made of
|
|
God to us righteousness, the Lord our righteousness.</I>
|
|
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[2.] As one that has undertaken for us. We must know him, and believe
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|
in him, as one that bore our iniquities--saved us from sinking under
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|
the load by taking it upon himself.</P>
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<P>
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3. He shall have the glory of obtaining an incontestable victory and
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universal dominion,
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
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Because he has done all these good services, <I>therefore will I divide
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|
him a portion with the great,</I> and, according to the will of the
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Father, <I>he shall divide the spoil with the strong,</I> as a great
|
|
general, when he has driven the enemy out of the field, takes the
|
|
plunder of it for himself and his army, which is both an unquestionable
|
|
evidence of the victory and a recompense for all the toils and perils
|
|
of the battle. Note,
|
|
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|
(1.) God the Father has engaged to reward the services and sufferings
|
|
of Christ with great glory: "I will set him among the great, highly
|
|
exalt him, and give him a name above every name." Great riches are also
|
|
assigned to him: <I>He shall divide the spoil,</I> shall have abundance
|
|
of graces and comforts to bestow upon all his faithful soldiers.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Christ comes at his glory by conquest. He has set upon the strong
|
|
man armed, dispossessed him, and divided the spoil. He has vanquished
|
|
principalities and powers, sin and Satan, death and hell, the world and
|
|
the flesh; these are the strong that he has disarmed and taken the
|
|
spoil of.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Much of the glory with which Christ is recompensed, and the spoil
|
|
which he has divided, consists in the vast multitudes of willing,
|
|
faithful, loyal subjects, that shall be brought in to him; for so some
|
|
read it: <I>I will give many to him, and he shall obtain many for a
|
|
spoil.</I> God will <I>give him the heathen for his inheritance and the
|
|
uttermost parts of the earth for his possession,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+2:8">Ps. ii. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>His dominion shall be from sea to sea.</I> Many shall be wrought
|
|
upon by the grace of God to give up themselves to him to be ruled, and
|
|
taught, and saved by him, and hereby he shall reckon himself honoured,
|
|
and enriched, and abundantly recompensed for all he did and all he
|
|
suffered.
|
|
|
|
(4.) What God designed for the Redeemer he shall certainly gain the
|
|
possession of: "I will divide it to him," and immediately it follows,
|
|
<I>He shall divide it,</I> notwithstanding the opposition that is given
|
|
to him; for, as Christ finished the work that was given him to do, so
|
|
God completed the recompence that was promised him for it; for he is
|
|
both able and faithful.
|
|
|
|
(5.) The spoil which God divided to Christ he divides (it is the same
|
|
word), he distributes, among his followers; for, when he <I>led
|
|
captivity captive,</I> he received gifts for men, that he might give
|
|
gifts to men; for as he has told us
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+20:35">Acts xx. 35</A>)
|
|
|
|
he did himself reckon it more blessed and honourable to give than to
|
|
receive. Christ conquered for us, and through him we are more than
|
|
conquerors. He has divided the spoils, the fruits of his conquest, to
|
|
all that are his: let us therefore cast in our lot among them.</P>
|
|
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